Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Busy

Too busy being micro-managed by my father to post right now.

Did I spell managed correctly?

*EDIT* Well, I have some time. So I just typed about my favorite character in Romeo and Juliet. I like Mercutio the best, but I chose Ben Volio becuase it'd be easier to write a couple paragraphs on him.

Currently listening to: Oye Como Va by Santana. Well, actually while I was typing that I switched to "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown".

Wyndham thing tonight, so that'll be fun. I hope someone brings the music to "Blue Skies". I just have a photocopy. I guess I'll bring that just in case.

I think Tim updated his blog (check the sidebar). Yeah, I checked it out. He did. And stole my joke. AGAIN! Mine is "I'll (insert something someone just said) you", like, "I'll blog you!". You get the idea.

Alright I'm going to search "My Documents" for something funny to post...

Gold! My old paper on being a patriot. I chose the unique option. So here it is:

Serving your country is many things. The things that immediately come to mind are the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force. It is true that many people are in the Army. In 2003, 1.4 million people worked in the armed services. That’s a lot of patriots.

But let’s look at other forms of helping your country. Every day, someone goes to the store to buy food. This person is a contributor to our country. Billions upon billions are collected in taxes. So people are helping America by buying things. Thousands of things each day are bought. Many people, without knowing, are helping their country. Let’s start from the beginning.

Say someone buys a donut. The money goes to the cashier, who puts it in the register. The manager of the store later opens the register and takes out the money. He distributes the money to his various employees and then takes the money home to his house. The owner notices that he has some extra money, so he takes the cash and hires an employee. The employee, a month later, gets paid. The employee takes the money to the dollar store across the street and buys a toy train. The money goes to the cashier. The taxes go to our country.

The people who served our country so far have been the following:

1.The buyer (paying the owner)
2.The owner (paying the new employee)
3.The new employee (paying the cashier, and in turn, the government)

This, in my opinion, is the easiest way of helping your country, and yourself. This is the true spirit of capitalism. It makes it easy to serve your country. You do many things every day to serve your country and never know it. Need proof? Did you go to work today? Did you drive your car today? Did you turn on your light this morning? Did you have a cup of coffee when you woke up? Have lunch yet? What about breakfast? Do you have a refrigerator? No, let’s make that last question easier: Do you have a house?

If you answered “yes” to one of those questions, you have served your country. You, without knowing it, are a patriot at heart.

So the next time you think about patriotism, think about it differently. Don’t think about if you are in the Navy. Think about if you woke up this morning.

Wow, I was funny in seventh grade! Alright one more thing... Oh! My old article on the pledge!

“I pledge allegiance, to the flag, of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands. One nation, under god, with liberty and justice for all.”

We’ve all heard it; it’s the pledge of allegiance. We say it every day. It seems like nothing to us, but some others are outraged by this salute to American patriotism. Is it right? Two people argue over the few issues with these 31 simple words. One has no problem with the patriotic and beautiful clause. The cultish and 1st amendment violator maddens the other. What do you think?

Dylan, 7th grader and reporter, (edited out so stalkers can't find us) member, is for the Pledge. He sees no problem with it. He thinks it binds the country together.

Sam, 7th grade (edited out so stalkers can't find us) member, feels that the Pledge is one more way that the government violates its own rules.

Following is their discussion (note: D is Dylan, S is Sam).

S: Dylan, how can you be for the pledge? For one thing, the two words “under god” are main offenders of the 1st amendment. This amendment clearly states the need for separation of church and state. Using the words “under god” are certainly religious.

D: Well the thing is, you have to realize that this pledge was written in 1892 over 100 years ago, and the people who founded this country believed in a god to help them solve their problems.

S: WRONG! Sorry, Dylan. The pledge was written in the late 1800’s, that’s true. But the words “under god” were added as an act of congress in the year 1954 in response to “godless communism”. If you think that in 1954, people relied on god in the government, you need some help. This was during the cold war, after World War II. This was not a period when a whole lot of people had trust in god. With nuclear missiles pointing at their heads, the cold war put the nation in serious distress. I don’t think congress put the words “under god” in the pledge really thought god was going to solve their problems.

D: For one thing you are absolutely right that “under god” was added in 1954, but still a lot of American citizens took faith in god during that time. I understand and agree that America is supposed to be the land of religious freedom but still the pledge technichally never specifies which god it’s talking about. There are many gods people worship in this world.

S: You’ve got to be kidding. Since when does the U.S. get to say that there is a god? The fact that the constitution mentions the word “god” at all is a violation of separation of church of state. What about atheists? In fact, let’s go back to the summer of 2002, when an atheist in California filed a suit in the 9th circuit court on behalf of his daughter, who was forced to say the pledge. The Supreme Court got right up and said the man didn’t have “standing”, or he wasn’t important enough. In a country where the constitution gives power to the people, is it fair to say that a person doesn’t have enough power to recommend something. Being Jewish, could I recommend this bill, or should I be Christian. Can I do this, or do I have to be a police officer, or a judge. I normally would have gotten years in jail, but instead I got 5 months jail, 5 months house arrest because I have my own cooking show (Martha Stewart). Do I have more power than another because I’m white? It’s just not fair.

D: You know life isn’t always fair, but who said you even have to live here. If you have that much of a problem with a few words then move to Canada, it’s awesome in the summer.

S: Are you serious? Or are you just being stupid?

D: I’m serious. If you don’t want to pledge your allegiance to this country, and pull your weight as an American citizen then leave.

S: Oh, my head. Ah, well… Listen Dylan, that’s just not a practical solution. We live in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Why should we be forced to move? You proved my point, by the way. You showed that the U.S. isn’t fair, and that neither is the Pledge. Not fair to atheists. Your suggestion that they move to Canada showed that you personally believe you have no power over the government.

D: Someone gave us land to live in and be free, but unfortunately there’s been a lot of kinks in that, look at slavery, look at women’s rights, look at religious feuding, go way back and look at how we had to win our independence from the English. My point is that this is a young country and there are still some things to be solved. Things take time and debating made this country what it is today. You have to fight for your rights for freedom (and to party also!). Many of these types of discussions will be held in the future. And who knows maybe this will never be solved.

S: So what do you think?

So those of you that are lazy and don't actually read my posts, read the patriotism thing. That's the funniest.

Okay that's it for today.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yay, I commented SECOND!!!!! (not first, since I'm not allowed to celebrate about that...)

Anonymous said...

In Soviet Russia, television watches YOU!!

Anonymous said...

I liked your patriotism piece. I already read your debate with Dylan in the school newspaper, though. Hee hee...Dylan still seems like he has no idea what he's talking about.

Anonymous said...

just dropping by to let you know that i just snorted tea all over my screen because I was laughing at your patriotism-piece. Which sounds gross but is actually a compliment! :)

Anonymous said...

In Mozilla, you keep tabs in browser; in America, browser keeps tabs on YOU!!

Anonymous said...

GIVE ME MY SPANISH HOMEWORK, SAM!!!!

Sam Austin said...

I still can't get over how funny that is! And who's that annoying anonymous person? "in soviet russia", yeah, they don't exist anymore, moron!

Anonymous said...

cool, I'm an "annoying anonymous person"-illiteration!

Anonymous said...

and i guess you didn't understand what the Soviet Russia thing was refering to...

Anonymous said...

drat... the patriot part is what i SKIPPED... i swear i'll read it later.

Abby said...

hey sam, is dylan that kid I met at your house a couple years ago with my friend natalie?

I actually laughed harder reading the arguement between you and dylan than I did at the essay. I mean, was he ACTUALLY being serious?

Frances said...

Your last name was there. . .
And this was in the school newspaper a long time ago. . .

Abby said...

shhhh!!

Anonymous said...

that thing on the pledge..er..

1st amendment doesn't say anything separation of church and state..Carissa and I (I would scroll to see if she's mentioned this already, but typing a disclaimer's faster. ando yeah, it was her idea) set out in the beginning of the year to clear this misconception; to bring intelligent design into schools, and to eradicate the common misconception that is the separation of church and state.

however, several months later, carissa and I have yet to find time to work on this..